The Cat's Tail
by Tupalicious
Summary: What if Erik had a cat? What would it have known or seen that we never did? I try to bring that to life in my first Phantom fic ever. All our fave charries from the book plus a few extra of my own. Please R&R! Much love, Tupalicious
1. Prologue: A glimpse of things to come

The Kitten of the Opera

A/N: I do not own any of the characters except the ones I made up.

Prologue:

Our story begins at the end. It could not be done any other way for the end is as much a mystery as the beginning and middle.

Take yourself to back in time to 1943, you stand in a graveyard about five miles outside of Paris, France. Look past all of the stone angels, saints, crosses and figures of Mary and the Lord.

There, in the very back corner, partially hidden by a clump of trees, you see it. A plot is earth, a grave, relatively new as it has little grass growing over it. There is no true marker, only a small stone roughly carved with the name _Erik _upon it.

A small creature sits at the base, staring down at the engraving. A black cat with a patch of white over the right side of his face and a scar down his nose is what you see. He looks as if he could be no more than two years old and is perfectly sleek and clean.

Why his fascination with this place instead of another you might ask? That, my dear friend, comes later in the story.

Everything begins to blur now, until you can see only the cat's face.

Time is being rewound so that you may see what happened.

You are being taken back to the year 1883 so that you may fully understand what I have just showed you…


	2. Chapter Two: Mask

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Phantom of the Opera. None of the books, musicals, movies or anything else except for the characters that I made up.

A/N: So what do you all think so far? Short beginning I know but hey. This is a new thing for me, generally I am better at writing funny stuff with action and adventure thrown in but I had this great idea that bugged me until I let it out so hey! Why not!

More from the movie cause I haven't finished the book yet so please you book lovers don't kill me! The movie was good too!!

Thanks to reading in a corner for our first review!

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Things begin to focus once more. We stand backstage at a theatre; rehearsal for the coming opera is going on as people rush about.

A shadow slinks by us, avoiding the rushing steps of harried messengers racing back and forth from one manager to the other. Looking down we see a cat race by, black as night.

Follow the cat, he turns a corner and down the steps he races. This is as far as I can go. Keep following the cat and all will come to be as it did so many years ago…

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Erik sat at the organ, playing a sweet, sad tune. He turned and a half smile crossed his lips.

"Ah, Phantom. Glad you made it back." Frowning at the small bundle of fur clutched between Phantom's teeth he reached down and caught it as the black cat dropped his precious prize.

"What's this then?"

The dark ball uncurled and a kitten stared up at him, part of his black face was covered by a mask or white fur.

Erik stared at it for a moment then set it down on the floor and, rising from the bench, went and got a bottle of milk from the cold box. He poured it into a shallow dish and observed the small creature tumble over to it.

"What shall we call you then?"

The kitten lifts his head, milk droplets quiver on his chin, and mewed. With an astonishing vertical jump he landed first on the organ's bench, then lands on the keys themselves, startling a sudden burst of jumbled notes from them.

Erik threw back his head and laughed as the little animal leapt straight in the air, back raised and tail twice as large with fluffed out fur. The kitten clattered to the floor and raced up Erik's leg, coming to rest on his shoulder with his still large tail wrapped loosely about his throat.

Gently working the creature's claws from his shirt and unwrapping the appendage from his neck Erik looked down at Phantom, who had finished all of the cream during the goings on.

The black cat lifted his head and watched as the little, grumbling ball of fur settled in Erik's lap and promptly fell asleep.

"I suppose this means he stays?" Erik asked of him.

Phantom's head nodded once, twice, then reassured that the milk bowel was empty settled to washing himself.

Erik sighed and looked at the kitten, stroaking his back while it purred softly.

"Sleep well little Mask. There's going to be a lot of excitement from here on out."


End file.
